LEGUMINOUS CHOPS. 



557 



The " hardening off" referred to is difficult to describe in any other term, 

 but the observant farmer will quickly detect it. The best treatmenl is to 

 turn in the water immediately that -\\mptom appears; if done quicHy 

 enough the effect may be to save the crop and bring it back to its original 

 freshness. If it is impossible to water at once it will be better to proceed 

 to harvest the crop for hay in the ordinary way, and to take greater (-are 

 thereafter not to allow the crop to go so long without water. When the 

 crop has lost its fresh, green colour and has acquired a bluish appearance, 

 it is too late to restore it to the sappy condition that makes the best bay. 



Harvesting. 



With the aid of thoroughly up-to-date machinery, lucerne haymaking 

 on the farm has become a regular routine. Briefly, the hay is cut with an 

 ordinary mower, drawn into windrows with a rotary rake, picked up by a hay 

 loader, carted direct to a derrick press, baled and wired without the for- 

 mality of being stacked, and drawn at once to the railway. From waving 

 lucerne in the paddock to fragrant hay on the truck something less than 

 three days is involved in the height of the season, and a team of eight men, 

 including the foreman, keep pace with the growth of 120 acres. 



Enemies of Lucerne. 



Dodder. 



This is the greatest enemy of lucerne. It is a parasitic plant, with long, 

 leafless stems, orange yellow in colour. , 



The dodder-seed germinates in the . /f // _, 



grounrl, and the young plants attach 

 themselves to the lucerne seedlings. 



As soon as the thread-like vine is p 



firmly attached to the lucerne plant, the _ga^. - M 



stem connecting it with the ground y 



withers away, and the dodder draws its r $jjjfe 



sustenance from the lucerne by means 

 of tiny suckers, which enter the tissues 

 of the host plant. The dodder flowers 

 are a beautiful golden colour. As the ^ 



parasite develops, the tangled masses in 

 which it occurs have the appearance 

 of ringworms, working from the centre 

 outwards. 



On no account should dodder be sown 



with the lucerne seed. Fortunately the 



removal of seeds of dodder is a simple ^W, 



process, as they are much smaller in 

 • .i_ i i l u Lucerne and Dodder. 



size than lucerne seeds, and can be 

 removed by screening through a mesh 

 sufficiently close to retain healthy lucerne seed, whilst allowing the dodder 

 to pass through. If dodder appears in a lucerne paddock it should never 

 be allowed to seed, but the affected growth should be removed as soon as pos- 

 sible. The plants should be chipped to the crowns, or straw should be 



